Man acquitted of felony counts in dog cruelty case

But conviction on misdemeanor charges over YouTube videos results in 2 years of probation

April 11, 2013|By Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune reporter

(Tribune illustration)

Joshua Moore called it the "dog tornado," strapping a dog in a harness and violently whipping the animal in circles so fast it became just a blur on the iPhone video.

In five such videos that Moore filmed last year and posted on YouTube, he and a juvenile accomplice could be seen forcing lemon juice down puppies' throats, applying duct tape to a dog's genitals and ripping it off, and tossing a dog in the air like a basketball and laughing as it fell to the floor, prosecutors said.

Cook County Judge Carol Howard on Wednesday ruled that while some of it was cruel, none of the acts on the videos amounted to a felony.

After a one-day bench trial, the judge acquitted Moore of more than two dozen felony counts of animal cruelty and torture, ruling that prosecutors hadn't proved any of the dogs were seriously injured. Howard found Moore guilty instead of three counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and immediately sentenced him to two years of probation, ordered him to continue counseling and forbade contact with animals.

Moore, 23, apologized to "everyone who had to see those videos."

"I'm embarrassed with myself at having done something like that," said Moore, who has no criminal history.

Moore and his alleged accomplice, then 13, were arrested in March 2012 after animal rights activists complained about the videos to police. Five dogs found at the home in the 200 block of North Lockwood Avenue in Chicago, all terriers or Chihuahua mixes, and five mixed-breed puppies were seized and have since been adopted, prosecutors said.

The boy was charged as a juvenile, pleaded guilty in June and was given two years of probation, prosecutors said.